


A Brother's Secret

by shadowtraveled (meteorfest)



Series: Shadows on the Water [8]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, Percico Weekend, have some feels while i'm at it, minor Nicazel fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-13
Updated: 2013-07-13
Packaged: 2017-12-19 07:40:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/881204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meteorfest/pseuds/shadowtraveled
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Nico disappears from the med bay, Hazel discovers a secret he's keeping. Written for Percico Weekend July 2013.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Brother's Secret

**Author's Note:**

> Recommend [listening to this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHB0S9Y8u1E) while reading.

Hazel had offered to share her room with Nico when the Argo II had left Rome. She wanted to take care of her brother, help him heal and recover his strength, make sure that he was going to be alright. The last thing she wanted was to let Nico be on his own. Going through Tartarus and then spending several days stuck in a jar with only a handful of pomegranate seeds to sustain him was enough to break even the son of Hades and Hazel hated to see her brother so broken.

And although he’d appreciated her offer, Nico had turned her down with a gentle shake of his head. He’d said that he’d stay in the medical bay, recover there. Hazel had left him there after he’d fallen asleep on one of the beds, but when she’d gone to wake him up for dinner, Nico hadn’t been there. She’d frantically started looking for him, considered shouting for Frank or Leo to help her find him.

She’d found him in Percy’s room, curled up on the son of Poseidon’s bed. The blankets were still at the foot of the bed, where Percy had kicked them the last time he’d slept there. Nico had his arms wrapped tightly around the pillow, face buried in its softness. Hazel approached her sleeping brother carefully, not wanting to wake him, and saw tracks of tears that had slipped down Nico’s cheeks.

That was when she’d realized just how much more Percy’s fall into Tartarus had hurt Nico than anyone else. Out of all the demigods on the Argo II, Nico had known Percy longer than anyone else, had openly admitted to admiring the son of Poseidon. It had taken seeing her brother’s tears, not quite dry, for Hazel to realize that it was more than admiration Nico had for Percy; it was love. Nico was in love with Percy.

And Nico had watched the boy he loved fall into Tartarus, the place that he, himself, had only barely escaped. Hazel’s heart ached for her brother and she couldn’t bring herself to wake him; he’d know she’d discovered something he’d meant to be secret. Instead, she leaned forward and pressed the softest of kisses to Nico’s temple as he slept on.

"He’ll survive," she promised him, her voice softer than a whisper. “You’ll see him again. I’ll make sure of it."

If Nico heard her, he made no sign of it, other than curling Percy’s pillow closer. Hazel stood upright and tiptoed back out of the room, quietly closing the door behind her. She’d let her brother sleep and keep his secret.


End file.
